Book Review | The Forgers by Bradford Morrow

“The rare book world is stunned when a reclusive collector, Adam Diehl, is found on the floor of his Montauk home: hands severed, surrounded by valuable inscribed books and original manuscripts that have been vandalized beyond repair. Adam’s sister, Meghan, and her lover, Will—a convicted if unrepentant literary forger—struggle to come to terms with the seemingly incomprehensible murder. But when Will begins receiving threatening handwritten letters, seemingly penned by long-dead authors, but really from someone who knows secrets about Adam’s death and Will’s past, he understands his own life is also on the line—and attempts to forge a new beginning for himself and Meg.”

***

I was a little unsure about requesting this book because it’s based on a field that I know nothing about; rare book collecting, inscriptions, and forgery. It caught my eye anyway because it’s full of mystery and suspense. Two things I like to read.

Honestly, you don’t have to know anything about the rare book collecting community to understand what was going on because it’s essentially about a murder. Who killed Adam Diehl? Who would want to kill a man who kept to himself and his books?

Adam’s sister Meghan was distraught, as he was her only family. She tries to pick up the pieces and come to terms with her brother’s death, but finds it difficult since the police can’t determine who did it.

The story is told in the perspective of Will, Meghan’s long time boyfriend. He is a man of many secrets. Secrets of his and that of Adam’s. He knows what Adam was up to before he died…or so he thinks.

Will is also the kind of man that’s a bit full of himself and his abilities. He believes that he’s the best forger out there. Perhaps he is, but much of what he says about his work is very egotistical.

When Will starts being blackmailed he knows that someone from his past has emerged once again. It was the same person who sold him out to the police about his forgery and dragged his name in the dirt of the book collecting industry. Will does everything he can to safeguard his future with Meghan and tries to stay one step ahead of this ghost from the past.

You don’t find out the true killer until the very end and you’re kind of left a bit shocked by it, but then you can see why this person had the motive to do it.

Overall, I couldn’t put the book down and wanted to find out what happened next. When I finished the book it was like I didn’t want the story to end. I feel like this book can easily have a sequel to it and I would definitely read it.

Favorite Quotes

“Isn’t the butterfly whose wings have been plucked by a heedless child better off crushed beneath his heel than left in the grass gazing up at the sky, flightless?”

“Books make us feel alive, and though we obviously won’t live forever, they make us feel as if we might.”